


Expectations

by tententen



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Depressive!Zev, F/M, Fluffy Ending, Pregnancy, Zevran Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 15:52:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3615618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tententen/pseuds/tententen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zevran reflects on what his life has been before it changes once again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Expectations

**Author's Note:**

> A short drabble for #zevran week

There was a time when all Zevran could look forward to was a short life, full of pain. The best assassins lived long enough to pass the tortured life on to an apprentice. He had been happy to look forward to a job that required some creative thinking. Simple burglaries and killing of marks in their beds were boring at best. He didn’t dare imagine anything better, elaborate tales aside. He could remember exactly when he’d started thinking differently - confused and vaguely hopeful considerations breaking through the cloud of mundane hopelessness. He had belonged to the Crows, and he could look forward to dying among their ranks. If he was lucky, his name would be one of the few whispered on the lips of the younger elves broken by the organization, a foolish inspiration. 

He’d had no aspirations before Isena came along, courageously selfish and in love with herself, things Zevran tried earnestly to be. She had her own pain in her life, lost loved ones and the taint burning within her. Fate had suggested her path, but she ran from it bravely, damning the Wardens and the Blight. She was a brilliant example of the life Zevran grew to want, and when she’d decided to share hers with him, he’d been overwhelmed.

Things were better than he expected. Getting past his hesitations and reservations proved more difficult than he expected, but Isena had been just patient enough to help him understand. Her impatience nature was gracious - her insistence that they keep moving, keep doing, keep living. She drew him out of his head and forced him on an unknown path that didn’t seem capable of leading anywhere bad. He was grateful to her for igniting him, for showing him that there was a light somewhere, even if he had no idea where it led. She made him her partner - a friend, a husband, and soon, a father. The past several months had filled him with an anxiety he couldn’t describe, and for once her easy smile couldn’t work to dispel his fears. He loved being with her. It had taken a bit of work on his imagination, but he liked the idea of a little one around. He’d like this life, with his love and his child, so long as Isena was actually a part of it. He didn’t doubt his ability to improvise fatherhood - he couldn’t give an infant a knife, it had to be fed and changed, it seemed like common sense - but a life without Isena was out of the question. A life with his mother in it would have certainly been better. A life without Isena wasn’t much of a life at all. He wouldn’t be alive without her. He’d only survive with a smile.

“Zevran,” Isena moaned, squeezing Zevran’s hand. He held hers in both of his, raising her hand to press a distracted kiss against her knuckles, still perched next to her bed where he had been for the past several hours. “Please, darling, leave me be.”

“You said I could stay.”

“I made a mistake. You don’t want to see this.” She sighed heavily as she watched him. His head was turned, his gaze directed towards the corner where the midwife stood, sorting her supplies. “Zevran, I’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, might not recover.” She frowned at his weak chuckle. “This won’t be the last time we speak.”

“Of course not.”

“Say it,” Isena commanded, taking his face and forcing him to meet her gaze. “This won’t be the last time we speak.”

“Of course not,” Zevran repeated, finding some strength in his voice. He returned her smile, exhausted and satisfied, and kissed her cheek. “All right. I’ll leave.” He brushed his hand against her forehead, pushing back the strands of hair stuck to her sweaty forehead, a smirk twisting his lips. “Try not to take all day.”

“Get out!” Isena laughed, tossing a rag after him.


End file.
